


Shadowing Sunlight

by shootingstarcipher



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, M/M, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-08-23 05:44:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8316121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shootingstarcipher/pseuds/shootingstarcipher
Summary: Bill had been strange as a child but, after the incident, he’d gotten even stranger.And not to mention obsessed with the idea that one day, the boy who had saved him then might come back for him.Of course, that was probably never going to happen, so Bill decided to do the next best thing and hunt him down himself.





	1. Prologue: "He Loves You"

The world wasn’t meant to be a prison, Bill often told himself. It was meant to set them all free - to set him free - and why wouldn’t it? Why, when he could see millions of other beings exploring the confinements of their own worlds even though they could never reach beyond the borders, was he imprisoned there, in that dull, lifeless and so horribly flat place? Life wasn’t fair, but this was excessive.

What made it so much worse was the fact that he could see everything beyond what he was capable of touching - more dimensions than he could have imagined, more species than he’d thought possible, sunrises, sunsets, astrological bodies and systems, beauty and something called emotion. That and the knowledge that he would be trapped where he was forever, that he’d never be able to experience any of what he could see outside of his own reality, no matter how long he lived for. And he would never die. That was the problem with immortality - with it came an overwhelming sense of monotony and tediousness.

All this was running through his mind at a speed others would have been incapable of conceiving while he had only came into existence a few years ago, which - as every other demon knew - was not very long ago at all. And, having been around for not nearly enough time to properly learn to understand how to take care of himself, Bill - and all the other two dimensional beings confined to that particular world - were being watched, under constant supervision, monitored for any strange behaviour that might alert someone to the presence of a being that shouldn’t have been allowed to continue its existence.

Bill Cipher was being watched even more carefully than the others. The other fledgling demons - though there weren’t very many - and other sentient beings in his group did very little but practice whatever abilities they had (demons possessed magical abilities whereas the other beings had other skills, such as advanced intellect and strength) and engage in idle chatter, whilst Bill was bored half to death by both of those things. He couldn’t have cared less about engaging in conversation with the others and as for honing his skills, well, to be perfectly honest, he had nothing practice.

That isn’t to say that he had already reached the height of his potential, but rather that all he was capable of doing was seeing… everything. No matter how far away something was - in another galaxy, universe or even another dimension - he could see it as though it were happening right in front of him. This was a skill which ran in his family and so came to no-one as a surprise. Still, he was supposed to be able to do far more things than that. Instead, since he had nothing to do but watched, all he ever did was sit and watch.

He watched for little things, tiny movements in distant galaxies and faraway universes he’d never be able to reach. It gave him a melancholy sort of comfort. What he really liked watching was the third dimension. He liked the way skies changed colour depending on the time of day, the way plants grew as they soaked up the water and the sunlight, and the way animals scurried about busily, their only concern whether they’d find enough food or whether they’d be hunted down by a predator and slaughtered.

And yet the beauty he found in it all grew tiresome quickly. Mundane, just like his life inside the dimension he couldn’t escape. That’s when he discovered that the same sort of beauty he’d found in the lives and deaths of creatures and beings outside of his own world didn’t have to stay out there - that he could bring the destruction he’d witnessed into the very place he was confined to.

It wasn’t only destruction he was interested in bringing to that world, but it was by far the most exciting. He couldn’t change the fact that each and every being he’d been watching was imprisoned in their own reality and he couldn’t make the sun turn the grey sky into a rose-tinted one or make the stars lose their grip and crash to the surface below, but he could create death. He could, if he wanted to, pierce a fellow being’s body with a sharpened object and watch their blood ooze out in hasty bursts of crimson destruction. And he would. Because at that moment, he did want to. It was all he wanted to do.

He stopped watching. He broke out of his trance and stopped watching. It was an event that, while those closest to him were oblivious, those who were watching him mentally noted the sudden change in his disposition. His single eye gleamed with determination and he turned his back on the shapes and demons around him, focusing only on the glistening pane of glass allowing him to see through the black brick wall and outside. But he wasn’t interested in the outside world; he was interested in the glass.

Summoning every ounce of strength and power he had in his golden body, Bill stretched out a small black hand and punched through the glass, pure determination pushing his fist straight through and out the other side. His hand was cut, tiny droplet of blood rising to the surface and seeping out into his palm. His eye squinted into a grin in response.

For a long, arduous moment, the world seemed to stand still. No, the universe did. The entire dimension. He was aware of everyone staring at him but that knowledge was pushed far away to the back of his expansive mind. What they thought didn’t matter. Because he was going to end them soon - their thoughts, their stares, everything. They would be wiped from existence in a matter of minutes and they would be to blame for it.

His first target was similar to him in appearance - triangular, just like him, and one-eye as well, but blue instead of gold - though very different to him in mind and personality. Bill was quiet and scheming; his target, on the hand, couldn’t seem to shut up. Picking up the sharpest shard of glass with his damaged hand, Bill made his move in such a swift motion that one would have missed it completely by blinking at that unfortunate moment.

The shard of glass dropped to the floor with a piercing clatter, crimson smeared across the tip and coating the marble floor below. Bill and his target had been floating above the ground but now one of them was falling to the floor, a large wound opening up underneath his eye. Bill was still grinning. His eye widened into an expression of shock for a split second and then… it happened.

He felt stronger. Powerful. More so than he’d ever been before. For an instant, he saw red. But only for an instant. Then there was blue, a paler blue than the body of his victim - brighter, illuminated. The wound below his victim’s eye had fully opened up but instead of red pouring out of it, there was a spew of luminous blue hues flowing out of the wound and right into Bill, the golden glow of his body intensifying as it happened. 

As the light around him dulled and the body of his victim faded to a muted grey, the struggled movements of his fellow demon ceasing altogether and leaving him lifeless, Bill’s grin widened. Then he blinked - slowly - and fixed his gaze on the grey body before him. He felt nothing but powerful. Stronger, like he’d finally found his purpose in life. 

If someone had told him then how wrong it was to enjoy killing, if someone had even attempted to teach him to feel empathy for other beings and repair his broken morality, he never would have become as strong and as magically capable as he did and perhaps - even though he’d never escape the world he was brought into - he would have made that world a better place. But no-one did and thus, the onslaught commenced.

It happened in a blur. He wasn’t really thinking, just lashing out at anything that moved. And with each kill he gained even more power, more ability, more knowledge. Suddenly he knew what they were all thinking, what they’d felt. He heard their screams even though they hadn’t screamed out loud. He felt their agony and he loved it. The world around him was grey and there was blood on his hands in more ways than one. He took another slow blink, drinking it all in, steadying his mind and gathering his thoughts, and when he opened his eye again a new being had entered his field of vision.

It was a being he’d never seen before, of a species he hadn’t known existed. Dark eyes, dark hair and a horrified expression met him. He wasn’t grey like everything else was. The confusion turned to nothingness and then, after a moment, acceptance. Sympathy, maybe. He looked Bill in the eye and said nothing while he approached him, somehow calm enough to take his bloodstained hand without flinching. The mere presence of the strange, foreign creature was enough to soothe the demon to the point where the intense feeling of strength diminished and he forgot what he’d been doing, focusing only on the small being holding his hand.

The being’s head was resting against him, just below his eye, and the being turned and kissed him gently, a gasp escaping the boy’s lips as the heat from Bill’s golden body connected with his mouth. Bill didn’t understand it at all. He didn’t know what was happening but he did know that he for once, he didn’t mind not knowing.

When given the chance, however, he asked about it. One of the creatures who had been watching him, in fact one of the two demons who had brought him into existence, suddenly intruded, prising the strange smaller being away from him. Bill knew then that he could grab the opportunity to understand - to discover who (and what) this creature was and why it was being so affectionate towards him… any why he didn’t mind it.

The only answer he received was a simple one, but one which only served to create more questions he needed answering. The other one-eyed golden triangular demon only answered one - that one being why this unusual-looking creature had run to him from nowhere and been oddly understanding towards his despicable actions.

Stepping in between them, the demon cast a luminous shadow over the foreign creature that was invading their world, looked at Bill and said something so seemingly simple the true complexity of her words was lost on him for trillions of years afterwards. 

“Because he loves you.”


	2. Sorry

“Sorry” always seemed to be the hardest word. Bill had never said it in his life. In fact, it took him a while to say anything at all - much longer than most other demons. It took him so long that the others had started to at least attempt to bully him into speaking, but he took no notice of them, choosing instead to do the forbidden - to be different. Even when he did finally start speaking, he grew weirder still, the first phrase he ever said being one that meant nothing to anyone, even Bill himself failing to understand it until many, many years later.

And yet, the mortal child that had approached him - seemingly appearing out of the blue - after the massacre he had caused was apologising almost constantly, a perpetual spew of remorseful expressions streaming from his lips. Bill had been watching him for quite some time, alone, observing his every movement and even every thought that entered his repentant little mind. Every apologetic thought.

He’d been there, inside his mind. Haunting him the way the child had haunted him for so many years - trillions, more than either of them could ever count. He’d seen first-hand just how goddamn organised he was. Order. Bill despised order. But he couldn’t despise the child, no matter how hard he tried to. No matter how much he hated the way he’d been abandoned for so long, he couldn’t hate the child for it. Anger, though, was definitely there - ever-present, really. Anger but also intrigue. Order was new to him, foreign, alien. There was no method to his madness - only chaos.

Just weeks after he’d finally succeeded in tracking the child down, he left the comfort (though “comfort” might perhaps not have the been the most fitting word to use to describe the cold underground prison he now called his “home”) of his own home to manifest in the world he’d been watching since he was only a few years old - the world the mortal child was confined to.

He couldn’t have done it without the somewhat accidental aid of Gideon Gleeful, a human he had no intention of getting to know very well, although something told him he could put him to good use if he was clever about it. And Bill Cipher was always clever about what he did. Gideon had indeed intended to summon him, but had no idea of what he was really allowing the demon to do. Bill, on the other hand, had only one goal in mind - and Gideon wasn’t part of the plan, unless he could prove himself useful before he was disposed of.

While he wasn’t exactly opposed to taking risks, ensuring that the human child he’d encountered that day paid for the suffering and confusion he’d caused him was too important a task to risk failure on the grounds that some other kid could potentially be of assistance, so Gideon didn’t have long to prove himself. That was bad news for Gideon but insignificant for Bill. Still, agreeing to help out the one who had allowed him access into their world to show his gratitude (if that was in fact the foreign emotion he was feeling) couldn’t have done any harm, especially as it involved a relative of the exact human he was interested in getting close to.

It would be easy, he thought. Holding up his end of the bargain would be nothing compared to the work he’d put in to get there. He knew that interruption was a strong possibility. That boy, the one he was so keen on claiming as his own, knew too much for his own good already. And his sister had seen him make the deal with Gideon. But still, it would be easy to stop them from getting in his way. He thought.

Finding his way to the so-called Mystery Shack and invading the mind of the supposed “Man of Mystery” (not that Bill thought he really deserved capital letters in his title, or even the title for that matter) was a breeze. It was just as easy as he’d thought it would be. The trouble started when he realised he was being followed. He didn’t panic, though. Bill Cipher didn’t do panicking. He’d planned for this, after all.

And now, he would see his mortal in the flesh. Finally. After years and years of searching and watching, waiting rather impatiently, he would have his reward. He would claim his prize - the prize he deserved, the prize he had earned. But not just yet. Because, as anyone like Bill should have known, every prey needed to be seduced. You couldn’t just pounce the moment you saw them. Then they’d get scared and run, and not everyone could outrun their prey. Bill was sure that he could but it wasn’t worth the risk. Besides, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could cope without his claiming his prey and refused to find out the hard way.

There were three of them. Question Mark, the useless one. Shooting Star, the sister. And Pine Tree, the reward he’d been waiting for. He knew their names, their thoughts, their personalities. Everything about them. But they knew nothing about him - even Pine Tree, even with his journal that seemed to tell him everything he needed to know. They knew nothing except for the fact that they were following him into the mind of someone they all cared for. It was going to be oh so easy to trick them, even in spite of Pine Tree’s wits.

He waited for a moment, and pounced.

Not on his prey, of course, but he manifested in front of him - in front of all three of them. He hadn’t expected to be remembered from their extremely brief encounter all those years ago but he had hoped for some recognition, particularly as the human had allegedly admitted a confession of love for him, whatever that emotion really was. He still didn’t understand and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Pine Tree didn’t understand either. Pine Tree didn’t love anyone, not really. Neither did Bill, though he didn’t realise it at the time, and he later discovered he was determined to keep it that way.

But instead of love, now all he received was horror. Horror and contempt.

He brushed it off, telling himself that he shouldn’t have been hurt by it because of course, Pine Tree had no idea who he was. He had no idea they’d met before, or that they would meet later on. But it stung, even though he knew it shouldn’t have done. Making an almost desperate attempt to ignore it, he studied each of the mortals in front of him carefully, taking in their fear and disdain with bitterness. And yet he grinned back at them, leaning against the golden cane he had caused to magically appear in his left hand. He held Pine Tree’s gaze for a moment and his grin widened.

“I had a feeling I’d be seeing you around here,” he beamed, really directing his greeting at Pine Tree and ignoring the other two completely, although they didn’t seem to notice how his gaze was fixed on their other companion. Pine Tree’s reaction was just what he was expecting now - more hatred, anger, frustration that it was his uncle’s mind that was being invaded. Not a shadow of regret. But how, Bill had to ask himself, could this child who was usually so willing to apologise even for minor faults that weren’t really his responsibility, not feel at all sorry for what he’d done to him?

Because he didn’t know what he’d done. It was obvious, if he thought about it. But he was determined to make him pay. He would claim his prize and make him pay. Soon. For now, though, he would have to come up with some way of earning his trust. Maybe he could use Gideon Gleeful for that. He’d do whatever it took. And if that meant making even more deals, then so be it.

When nobody spoke, but stood staring across at him with gritted teeth and hands tightly balled up into fists, he laughed to himself in his loud, shrill voice and floated closer to them, aiming straight for the dark-haired boy clutching that god forsaken journal to his chest. He was never going to let go of that book, as far as Bill could tell. His grin disappeared as he started naming each of the mortals one by one but reappeared again when he aimed his fist at Pine Tree as he said his name and put a hole right through his chest, proving as he always did who was in control.

But it also served to demonstrate the nature of the world they were in. A world where anything could happen. Because all of them realised he hadn’t felt any pain when the hole opened up in his chest, and Bill realised he’d made a mistake. But, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. All he needed was for the human to trust him and this mistake may just have put him on the right path to achieve that.

“So here’s the thing, kid,” he started with a smile, twirling his cane with his fingertips. “You know what I’m here for.” In a way, that was true - in the sense that they all knew why he was there in the mindscape of Stan Pines. But only he knew that he was really just doing his best to get close to Pine Tree and only he knew he was doing that because of an obsession that, as far as he was concerned, Pine Tree was to blame for entirely. “I only need one tiny little memory, that’s all,” he elaborated, pointing to the floating shack behind him. “Let me know if you find it. You know what it is.” With that, he gave each of the humans one final glance - his gaze lingering for a few seconds when it landed on Pine Tree - before vanishing into thin air and reappearing inside the shack, inside the maze of a thousand doors where he knew that all important memory would be.

The trouble was finding exactly which door led to that memory. Fortunately for him, the mortals, as most mortals were, were idiotic in their actions once he’d disappeared from their view. They followed him; he knew they would. And then, true to the reckless nature of their species, they separated from one another, deciding to search for the memory individually. They knew which one they needed - which one Bill needed. The one of Stan inputting the code to the safe he had hidden in the back of his establishment. Divide and conquer. It would have made Bill laugh if it hadn’t been for the fact that he was trying to stay quiet so as not to be noticed by them.

Naturally, he followed Pine Tree, blending in with the shadows as he held himself against the wall. Still, he kept an eye on the other two so that he’d be ready to swipe the memory from them if they found it, though he thought it unlikely that either of them would find it before Pine Tree. He stayed silent, gliding down each corridor without a sound, always keeping out of sight as he shadowed the human boy in front of him until eventually they came to a door that caught the human’s eye. They both stopped and the demon ducked round a corner.

The boy put his hand on the door handle, hesitated, and gazed up at the sign above the door. Behind that door lay every single memory his uncle had of him. Every single event he could remember that involved him would be right in front of him. All he had to do was turn the handle, open the door and step inside. Then he’d know exactly what his uncle thought of him.

From behind the corner where the two decrepit grey walls met, Bill was still watching him. He couldn’t look away. And he hated it, because he felt something he’d never experienced before. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, something he couldn’t name. But it was definitely there. Like he was… unhappy, or at least less happy than he had been before, because he knew. He knew how it felt to be hated by those he cared about, or was meant to care about. But one thing Pine Tree didn’t understand was that nobody truly hated him. Many, many people hated Bill - detested him, even - but nobody felt that way about him.

With new emotions came confusion. It had always been that way. And this time he felt worse, even more confused than usual, because he wasn’t the one who was meant to apologise. He wasn’t meant to be sorry. Pine Tree was. For all the torment, all the uncertainty, all the obsession.

It had started earlier than anyone had realised - the obsession. Since before they’d met. Because the first thing Bill had ever said, to the bewilderment of all who heard it, was “Pine Tree.”


	3. War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter >.

What he did next may have been a mistake, but it was a deliberate one. He wasn’t certain that everything would go according to plan, that everything would work out in his favour, but he was sure he could rectify anything that happened to go wrong. And so he stepped out from his shadowy hiding place, approached the mortal boy in silence and tapped on his shoulder lightly - but abruptly - so as to intentionally announce his presence. Pine Tree reacted by shrieking.

Irritated by the fact that attention would be drawn to him due to the child’s screaming, Bill clamped a small black hand over his mouth to muffle - and eventually silence - the terrified sounds emanating from him. “I don’t need the hassle of having to deal with stupid little mortals who think they can, I don’t know, “rescue” you,” he hissed, letting go of the child now that his screams had ceased to draw rather sarcastic quotation marks in the air with his fingers. “Just shut up and listen. I know what’s best for you, kid. I know what’s inside there” - he jerked a thumb in the direction of the door the child was tempted to open - “and take it from me, you don’t wanna find out about it.”

The child only snarled at him in reply, swatting him away in attempt to regain full view of the door in front of him. “Okay, kid, but don’t tell me I didn’t warn you,” Bill mused with feigned reluctance. He pushed his way back in front of the door for a moment before moving out of the way and clicking his fingers to cause the door to open on its own. As he moved, he waved his hand over the door, magically altering what lay behind it without even Pine Tree - as observant as he was - noticing.

Even though he had no idea what the demon had done, the mortal child hesitated, eyeing the demon suspiciously. He stepped towards the door and touched the metal handle but almost immediately jumped away from it, withdrawing his hand in the process. Now that he had him on edge, Bill recognised his chance to gain the human’s trust and floated closer to him slowly, trying his best to make himself look sympathetic, and draped his arm over the child’s shoulders as gently as he could manage. Gentleness wasn’t his greatest strength, but he’d try his best if it meant his latest scheme would work out perfectly.

Pine Tree barely even seemed to notice the feeling of the demon’s arm snaking around him, pulling him closer. He simply stood there and stared across at the door, contemplating whether to open it or not. When he realised that his shoulders were warmer now than they had been before, and that a weight (although light) was pressing down on them, he shrugged the demon’s arm away from him and moved closer to the door again, but turned to face him instead of opening it. Bill grinned back at him in reply.

“You know what he thinks of me?” The human’s voice shook, weakened by distress and anxiety. Bill’s grin widened and he told him that he did. He wasn’t lying. That was completely true. He knew that Stan really did care for his nephew, even if he showed it in a way that was often misunderstood by the child. Of course, that wasn’t what he was going to tell him when he asked. “What… How do you know?” Bill laughed at the mortal’s hesitation before immediately regretting his momentary loss of control, realising that if he wanted Pine Tree to trust him, he was going to have to learn to at least act sympathetic.

“I’m a demon, Pine Tree. Knowing things is what I’m good at.” It came out as another laugh but then he stopped himself and tried harder to look more sympathetic. “Listen, kid, if you want the honest truth” - he paused and tilted his golden form towards the child, softening his gaze - “your uncle’s not exactly your biggest fan. In fact, you don’t really have many fans. Or any.” He paused again, letting the false information sink in, before adding, “Except me, of course.” He reached out and patted his head, the child scowling in annoyance at his action but focusing mainly on his words. “But that’s all you need to know. There’s no point in opening that door and upsetting yourself about it, is there?”

Switching their positions, Bill pushed the human out of the way and blocked the door again. Pine Tree didn’t react. He just let him do it. “Fine, then. If it means that much to you, I won’t do it. But you’d better leave me alone from now on.” He was lying. Bill knew that much. He would leave for the time being but he had every intention of coming back the moment the opportunity arose. But that wasn’t a problem. Bill was prepared for this. This was exactly why he’d altered Stan’s memories of him - the effects wouldn’t last; it was only until he left the mindscape and then his memories would return to their original state.

He agreed with the child but feigned reluctance and hesitation, just to make sure he was really taken in by his act. Then, just to seal the deal, he announced his departure and vanished, reappearing around the corner where he’d previously been hiding. Pine Tree looked suspicious and for a moment he thought he was on to him, but then he saw the child shrug and walk away, heading down the hallway. After waiting for a few seconds, Bill went back to following him.

As he floated down the corridors, chasing after the human he was oh so interested in, Bill reflected that the hardest part of every war was the very beginning. And this was the beginning of the war he waging against Pine Tree. It wasn’t the sort of war he was used to though. No fighting, no physical attacks. No death or bloodshed or genocide. He did, however, feel that he had been tortured - mentally tortured by the idea that he might never be able to claim the prize that was rightfully his, that he might never see or hear from Pine Tree ever again.

They both heard shouts from further down the hallway. Pine Tree sped up and started to run. As always, Bill followed.

It was lucky that he did. Otherwise, Gideon Gleeful might just have decided to wage a war against him.


	4. Always Expecting More

There it was: the door they had all been searching for. Bill wanted it more; he was sure of it. He needed it more. Losing this meant losing Gideon’s alliance and while he may not have been immediately useful, the more allies, the better - especially in a war like this. He knew, of course, what Gideon longed for the most and while the mortal child told himself it was power he was after, Bill could see past that façade. Shooting Star was what he really wanted to possess, and Bill was sure he’d be able to make that dream a reality for him if only he’d help to ensure that Pine Tree gave himself up.

First and foremost, however, he needed to get his hands on Stan’s memory. Stepping out from around the corner he’d been hiding behind once again, he laughed to himself at the idiocy of mortals as he pushed his way through the gaggle of humans and blocked the entrance to that all important memory. As long as he got there first, there wasn’t going to be a problem.

Except the look of dismay on Pine Tree’s face presented an enormous problem in itself. He hated to admit it and he didn’t understand it at all, but he for whatever reason he wasn’t extracting any joy from the human’s anguish like he normally did. Normally this would have been the best possible scenario - fulfilling his end of the deal whilst causing a weaker, inferior being to suffer. But now he felt nothing but emptiness. He hesitated for a brief moment as a result, but only for a second or two. There was no doubt in his mind that, whatever confusing emotion Pine Tree caused him to experience, he would be absolutely able to push past it and carry out the task that had to be done. He had to. His future depended on it.

“You really think you’ll be able to stop me?” he taunted, aiming his derision at Shooting Star after noticing her glare. “Don’t you get it? I’ve already won - isn’t that right, Pine Tree?” he added, reaching out with a small black hand to pat the brunet firmly on the shoulder. The boy shuddered in response and jerked away from him, the demon’s eye curling into a frown in response. “Suit yourself. Well, I’ll be going now.” He turned to the door, opened it with one hand and floated inside. If he’d been quicker about closing the door behind him, the three mortals wouldn’t have followed him inside so easily.

Pine Tree was closest to him. Knowing they were so close made him stop and think again - this time about whether he really had the willpower to wait to claim his prize.

Regardless of how long it took, Pine Tree would submit to him. It was just a question of how long Bill could stand to wait.

“Give up, kid. It’s game over.” He knew before he said it that it wouldn’t be enough to convince the boy to give up, and that’s part of what he liked about him.

That may not have been enough, but his already unstable relationship with his uncle deteriorating even more rapidly at the command of the demon was just enough to make him pause and wonder exactly why he was so keen to protect the man who clearly wasn’t very fond of him. With time his sister managed to convince him that, whether or not he was ever going to have a good relationship with Stan, he had done nothing to deserve to lose his home and his business to a competitor and even if he had done, Gideon getting his hands on the Mystery Shack could potentially bring their summer in Gravity Falls to an abrupt end. But it was already too late.

Manic laughter erupting from him as the memory he so desperately needed became trapped inside the small glass bottle that had magically manifested in his left hand, Bill squinted his single eye into a satisfied grin and clicked his fingers, vanishing from Stan’s mind in a flash of blinding blue light. But he was already too late, too.

The deal was off, apparently. This wasn’t something Bill ever accepted easily and now, given his unstable temperament and frustration over Pine Tree, he was finding it even more difficult not to instantly declare war on the human who had just called off their deal. Gideon was close to making a powerful enemy he couldn’t afford to anger but Bill was determined not to let his fury show just yet; he had more important things to deal with and if Gideon could be of any use at all, he intended to exploit him as much as possible.

But now he had a memory and no use for it. If one thing was certain, he was definitely not going to return it without getting something from the mortals who were so keen on getting it back. Maybe Gideon calling off the deal wasn’t such a bad thing, he told himself. Now he had something against Pine Tree, if only the mortal would have an incentive to try and get it back.

He tried to wait. It was just too hard. He was so, so close to getting what he’d always wanted and he couldn’t help wanting it even more now that it was within reach. So after eight days, five hours and thirty nine minutes of waiting, he gave in.

He’d been watching closely, of course, peering into Pine Trees thoughts whenever it suited him and witnessing every aspect of his dreams during every single second of his sleeping life. Some of those dreams he’d manipulated, others he hadn’t. Sometimes he felt the need to step in and take control, feeling that when left to his own devices, the things the mortal dreamed about weren’t suited to him. He didn’t mind it when he dreamed of his sister or his family, or the creatures they’d discovered together since arriving in Gravity Falls. What he did mind was anything involving Red. Bill hated her even more than he hated his deals being called off. Pine Tree, unfortunately, had the opposite opinion of her.

Tonight he stepped in. He was determined to wait a few more days at least, knowing that there would be a perfect opportunity for him to reveal that Stan’s memory was still in his possession soon, but after he caught a glimpse of red hair weaving its way into Pine Tree’s current dream he snapped and forced his way in.

The setting changed as he floated into the dream, obeying his every command. No more Red. As long as Bill was around, she wasn’t getting anywhere near Pine Tree’s dreams - not this one and not any others. He would make sure of it. 

What had once been the attic room of the Mystery Shack (a common setting for the mortal’s dreams, especially since Gideon Gleeful successfully took over the business and forced them out) now became a vast, dry wasteland, the creaky floorboards beneath the boy’s bare beet becoming a reddened, rocky surface. Around him, a handful of trees were dotted about the barren wilderness, quivering in the sweltering heat. Pine Trees. Bill had made sure they were pine trees. He stood on the edge of a cliff, on the precipice of certain death, and the only one there to protect him now was Bill Cipher.

“Well, Pine Tree,” the demon started, resting his hands on the cane that had appeared at his will. “You miss me? Of course you did! Why wouldn’t you?” he blurted out without waiting for an answer. The look on the boy’s face, instead of confusing him, delighted him this time. It was a look of shock and horror and, knowing that he had no real reason to fear him, Bill couldn’t help finding his dread and panic amusing. “Relax, kid. I’m not here to hurt you.”

Pine Tree still didn’t relax, though Bill had expected as much. He took a small, hesitant step towards the demon - and away from the edge of the cliff - before stopping and gazing up at him with wide, fearful eyes. “Really?” His voice was quiet and meek - barely audible, in fact.

Bill simply laughed at him in response. “Really, kid. I just came here to talk to you, that’s all - and to make you forget all about that red-head you’re oh so obsessed with,” he added quickly. The corner of the boy’s mouth twitched at the mention of Red and Bill’s grin widened - but only on the outside; inside he felt torn up over the fact that the mortal he’d spent his entire life obsessing over was experiencing the exact same feelings towards someone else.

The human spoke louder now, a slight tremble in his voice betraying the air of confidence he was trying hard to create for himself. “Leave Wendy alone! She has nothing to do with any of this - whatever this is.” His attempt at sounding confident only resulted in the demon becoming even more amused and laughing harder, and in response to this the mortal gritted his teeth and glared up at him.

“Oh I will. I promise, Pine Tree. But only as long as you keep away from her as well, understood?” Bill smirked as he raised a hand, nonchalantly inspecting the fingernails he didn’t have as if his thin black fingers were much more interesting than Pine Tree could ever be; that was a lie and he knew it, but Pine Tree didn’t. The mortal raised an eyebrow at him and sighed, clearly struggling to comprehend the demon’s reasoning. Bill was mad and they both knew it, so it wasn’t surprising to either of them that his behaviour came across as strange and unnerving. Reluctantly, the boy eventually agreed. Protecting Red was his priority, whilst keeping the two of them apart was Bill’s.

As always, Bill had expected more from him. He’d expected more of a fight. He’d expecting more opportunities for bloodshed and murder. That would come, he promised himself, eyeing Pine Tree’s wary expression with glee and anticipation. The time would come when he would begin his slow and painful torture of the boy who had haunted him for so many years, and it would come soon. But first, he needed to gain his trust.

“One more thing, kid.” He paused, grabbing the child’s attention with the shrill sound of his voice. “Want your uncle’s memory back?”


End file.
